The Hanging Tree
by FireIsCatching17
Summary: A young boy running to District 13 with his father is adopted by Katniss' family when his father was killed. Now with his new family, he is finally happy. Then Katniss' father dies and Gale is Reaped. Unable to see a boy that young put in the Hunger Games, he volunteers. Now, he must fight to survive in the Games, oblivious to the rebellion he unknowingly begins to spur.
1. Prologue

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_They strung up a man they say who murdered three_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

The raspy, melodious voice rang out through the forest. The mockingjays that had been singing an unknown tune to themselves quieted, as if they were listening attentatively to the song, memorizing the melody to pass on to their children until the song becomes as ancient as the one they are so often caught singing. The wing that blows through forest seemed to slow until it was barely a rustle of the leaves. The entire forest seemed to hold its breath.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Where the dead man called out for his love to flee_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

He lifted his head apprehensively, though stayed crouched down, protected by his bush. Warily, he strained his ears to listen to the rest of the song as his curiosity got the better of him. His papa told him not to move, but he couldn't help it, he had to. He wanted to hear the song better. Carefully, or as careful as a young boy like him could, he got to his feet. His body stiffened and his eyes stayed screwed shut, waiting for the yelling to start. But it didn't. With a relief that he tried to not show, he slowly opened his eyes. There was no one. No scary Peacekeepers, no papa, no animals.

Taking his chance, he began walking with stealth no usually found in a boy his age. He was extra careful not to step on any branches and luckily it was spring, so there weren't any dried leaves. He had learned his lesson from what had happened last time… When they almost got him…

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

The voice that was singing was starting to get louder, and he knew he was getting closer. He froze when he saw movement in front of him and dived behind a bush. He dared not to breathe, hoping he wasn't spotted by whatever he had seen. Steeling himself, he knew papa would want him to check and make sure it was gone, he peered through the bush and what he saw surprised him. There was a man, about the same age as his papa, and a young girl who looked his age. He stared at her, transfixed. Her dark hair was in a braid down her back and she was wearing what looked to be pants and a brown jacket. Her back was turned to him, so he couldn't see her face but she seemed to be looking up at the sky. Curious and slightly confused, he did the same and a small gasp escaped him. There were many mockingjays surrounding them in the trees, silent and unmoving. It was something he had never seen before.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me._

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would they be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

He turned his gaze back towards the man and the little girl and realized it was the man who was singing, his face also turned up towards the sky. He was leaning against the trunk of a tree but he couldn't see his face very clearly. Closing his eyes, the boy let the song ash over him. He didn't really understand the words, not really, but he implanted them in his mind as to not forget them. When the man stopped singing, he reopened his eyes in surprise as the birds began singing the melody. They sang and sang until one by one they took off, continuing to sing and share the song with its brothers and sisters.

The man and girl laughed and started walking in the direction opposite of where the boy was, to his great relief. Then, once he was sue he was gone, the boy stood up and closed his eyes as he listened to the birds sing. Eventually, he too began to sing along with the birds.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_They strung up a man, they say who murdered three._

_Strange things did happen here _

_No stranger would they be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree._

He started walking back towards where his papa told him to wait, a small smile on his lips as he sang along with the birds. He knew he was being careless, stepping on twigs and making a bunch of noise but for some reason he couldn't find it in himself to care. He hadn't noticed the birds had stopped singing, to wrapped up in his own little world of a few minutes of happiness.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Where the dead man called out, for his love to flee_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight in the hanging tree_

When he made it back to where he had been hiding before he heard the singing, he sat down, not bothering to fully conceal himself like his father told him to. He sang a little quieter now, finding he liked it better when it was sung softly. A mockingjay flew down and landed on a branch sticking out from the bush he was hiding behind. He had to force back a chuckle as the bird stared at him, the action causing him to pause in his song. The bird bobbed its head and he pretended it was urging him on to continue singing.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight in the hanging tree_

Suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere rough hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him none to gently. The bird flew off, singing loudly the tune of the song and the birds around the forest echoed in return. Fearfully, the boy stared up into the wild blue eyes of the man shaking him, his papa. "What do you think you're doing? I told you to be quiet!" The boy began mumbling an apology, fear flooding through him at his papas tone. He sounded angry. Angry and scared. But that couldn't be right, because his papa was brave and never scared of anything.

"They're coming!" His papa's eyes were wild but his voice was still calm and strong. The boy couldn't hear the anger anymore. "Quickly, run that way!" He pointed in the direction the man and his little girl had gone. "Just run and don't stop, got it?"

The boy nodded, fear swirling around him and he scrambled to his feet. He started to run off, but before he could his father hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead. "I love you Ryan."

Ryan let a whimper escape his mouth and he hugged his papa back tightly. "I love you too papa." His papa let go of him and pushed him away, and Ryan thought for a second his papa was crying. His voice was thick as he yelled at Ryan. "Now go! Don't look back no matter what you hear!"

Ryan nodded, feeling tears well in his eyes before he took off into the forest. He pushed branches and bushes out of his way, panting heavily. The birds around him continued singing, still assuming all was peacefully and not realizing the horror of the situation. From behind him he heard his papa yell and heard unfamiliar voices yelling back. They started getting fainter the faster he ran until suddenly he heard a gunshot and his papa stopped yelling. There were tears running down his face now and he covered his ears as he ran. Papa told him to keep running no matter what and he had to do what papa told him. He heard faint yelling behind him and a small sob escaped his mouth but he continued on. Suddenly he ran into something and almost fell when something steadied him, rough, calloused hands had grabbed his arms and held him upright.

He was overcome with shock as he stared up at the man who had caught him. He looked worried, but all Ryan could think about was that it should be his papa worried about him but his papa wasn't here anymore. A sob escaped his mouth and he started repeating a mantra of "They got my papa. They got my papa. They got my papa." Then he was running again, but his legs weren't moving. But he had to have been running because he could feel the wind on his face and through his black hair.

He slowly stopped his mantra and numbly began singing the song he had heard mere minutes ago before everything started to go wrong.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_


	2. Chapter 1

He never sang that song again.

In the years that passed, Ryan began to view the people who had saved him as his family. The man who had carried him back to District 12 and saved him from the Peacekeepers offered to be his new family, since the only one he had known was living in the forest with his papa. Since he didn't have any other choice, he agreed. He then had a mama and a papa and two sisters. Once he got over grieving for his papa, he began to enjoy his life, or at least as much as he could, considering.

He wouldn't go into the forest for a long time, but when his new papa offered to teach him and his sister, Katniss, how to hunt, his rumbling stomach made him agree. He supposed those were his favorite memories of his father, when he was teaching them how to shoot and set traps. Both he and his sister had a knack for the bow, but he was better at setting traps then her. She got him back though when it came to memorizing what berries you could and couldn't eat. All he knew were the poisonous berries because his father was adamant that they both memorize them.

He enjoyed working with his mother and other sister, Prim, as well. He took much joy in showing off that he was a better healer then Katniss, but Prim outshone both of them in that department with her kind eyes, sharp mind, and gentle hands.

The joy was cut short, however, when his papa died. He remembered that day all too well. The explosion in the mines had shook practically the entire town. He had been sitting at home playing some game with Katniss, it seemed so trivial no looking back, when it happened. He had stared in horror at Katnisss and his fear reflected in her eyes. He had scrambled to his feet and shouted for Katniss to go to mama and Prim which she did after he nudged her to her feet. Steeling himself, he had taken off out of the house and run to the mines. There were many people rushing out of their homes and doing the same, children huddled on the porch with each other, terrified it had been their papa that was in the explosion. Other families peered out, men and women and older kids comforting the wailing children here and there along the street.

Ryan ignored it all. The only thing he could think about was getting to the mines and hugging his papa tight. He knew his papa was alive, he had promised he would always be there for Ryan. When he arrived at the mine, people were already gathering, women and children trying to find their loved ones. He looked around for his papa through the crowd for a long time, until a lone voice began shouting out names of the men who had been killed in the mine.

Ryan's world seemed to stop. His eyes widened in disbelief as cries and wails of grief broke out around him. His mouth was open, but nothing was coming out. He felt strangely calm, despite the chaos going on around him. Slowly, he started making his way back towards his house. He watched as his feet started moving him towards his house, and numbly wondered how they were doing that because he didn't remember telling them to move.

He reached his house but before he got a chance to open the door it swung open and Katniss stood there with a look of hope on her face. Numbly he stared at her and watched as the hope drained and was replaced with grief as she started sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and felt her face press against his shoulder. His shirt was getting wet but he couldn't bring himself to care. Prim ran forward and clung to him torso as she cried and he lifted his head to stare at his mama.

Mama was staring at him through glazed eyes, looking at him but not really looking at him. It was like the mama he knew was gone and replaced with someone else. She didn't run over towards Ryan like he wished, instead she ran up the stairs and he could have sworn he heard the slamming of the door.

Ryan finally felt the tears begin to slide down his face as he hugged his sisters tightly, murmuring words of comfort without hearing what he was saying. His papa was dead. His papa was dead. His papa was dead...

A sob escaped him as he started singing the soft song just his papa did the day he met him in the forest. He hadn't sang it since that horrible day, but he knew his sisters needed to hear it.

"Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

They strung up a man they say who murdered three

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."

His tears were slowly starting to stop as he sang, feeling a weird sense of quiet and peace and for a moment he could have sworn he heard his papa's voice singing along with him. Then he heard his sisters join in with him and for a brief moment a smile flitted across his face. Together, as one, they finished singing the song and for the briefest of moments Ryan could have sworn his papa was singing with them from heaven.

"Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would they be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree…"


End file.
